BC Lions Notebook: Revenge on the mind against Montreal Alouettes

The BC Lions got off the two-game losing streak schnide after defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders 26-13 on the road and moving to 1-2 on the season. Up next, they'll have a rematch against the Montreal Alouettes after looking abysmal in the first meeting.

Everything went wrong in a 24-9 loss two weeks ago in Toronto when quarterback Kevin Glenn got sacked five times and running backs Stefan Logan and Andrew Harris had 13 carries for just 54 yards. Harris took the loss personally and told CFL.ca that he wasn't mentally ready for the game.

“After the week we got embarrassed in Montreal I just took it personally to make an impact, I was miserable all week because I had a bad taste in my mouth so I just came with an attitude and attacked every play,” Harris said. “When you have space and you have that attitude everything seems to work out.” 

Harris is a key weapon if BC wants to get revenge on Montreal. He leads the league in yards from scrimmage (47 carries for 368 yards) and was much more positive on the outcome in Riderville.

As Harris believes a team should get better as the season progresses, BC definitely set expectations low after starting the season off with two losses. But all of this is considered damage control until Travis Lulay gets back.

Originally expected to be out just for the season opener, Lulay was put on the six-game injured list right before their Week 1 game. He will be out for Friday's game against Winnipeg and the following Friday's road game at Calgary. For now, he's scheduled to return in a home date against Hamilton on Friday, August 8th.

Montreal could very easily be 2-1 but lost to Winnipeg in a heart-breaking loss in which the Blue Bombers threw a game-winning touchdown on their final down with under 30 seconds to go. Alouettes head coach Tom Higgins blamed penalties and believed that outside of the gut-wrenching loss, the team is getting better.

“There were way too many penalties, that hurt, but I think it was a good football team out on the field and we’re getting better, but it would feel better if we could have finished that drive and not let it go in for a touchdown.”

Three Keys to the Game

1. Start improving turnover ratio. As it stands right now, the Lions are -5 in turnovers this season. Their offensive line is completely banged up already but they must avoid giving the Alouettes extra possessions like they did two weeks ago.
2. Limit Brandon Whitaker. He's third in the CFL in rushing with 203 yards on 38 touches.
3. Keep the game clean. Penalties plagued the Alouettes last week, but the Lions draw just 9.7 flags per game, over 3 penalties less than the league average.